December 8, 2011

The American Colonization Society (ACS), founded in the 1820s with a mission to relocate ex-slaves and freedmen to Africa, became well known for the creation of the nation of Liberia. The years following Reconstruction saw a surge in the number of African Americans desiring to relocate to Africa. In the 1880s and 1890s, approximately 650 Arkansas emigrants, more than in any other state, left for Africa. By the mid-1890s, the ACS dropped its resettlement program, which was taken over by private companies. Shown in this 1895 photo are some 200 passengers, of which half were from Arkansas, boarding the ship Horsa bound for Liberia.